www.rockingscots.co.ukRockingscots is a website dedicated to
Scottish beat groups
and rock bands from the '60s and '70s.

SLEAZ BAND

Well we said we'd take east
coast stuff so here you go - From Dundee - the Sleaz band!
Now we saw this lot twice at least. Once supporting Nazareth at the Dam
Park Hall in Ayr and once at the Greyhound in London.. Visually, you
couldn't forget them (ZZ Top must have caught their act) and the music was hard
rock at its finest. We'll always remember the lead guitarist with an
extended lead going right into the crowd while giving Purple Haze big
licks. Great stuff. Nearly all info here from bass player Phil
Robertson. Cheers.

Clark Robertson; Phil Robertson; Frank Kosiba; Jim Bodie.

The first Sleaz Band was named when the band was booked as Rock
Tonsils and the Sleaz Band to support Pink Floyd, Gethsemane and various
others at Dundee Art College Revels in 1968. Eventually the 'Rock Tonsils'
bit was dropped leaving just the Sleaz Band tag. Original line up in pic
above (from the now defunct Glasgow Evening Citizen (the green paper) was
- left to right - Jim Bodie on vocals, Clark Robertson (lead guitar), Phil Robertson (bass) and Frank Kosiba on
drums.

The band did at least 60 gigs in 1969 supporting Chris
McClure, Eire Apparent, Love Affair, Blues Junction, John Dummer Blues Band,
Desmond Dekker, Tear Gas at Sergeant Pepper's in Glasgow and Eclection and
Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac at the Green's Playhouse Glasgow on 16/10/69.
Below is a snippet from the Citizen publicizing the Greens gig.

Some advice from Frank: Watch out for that David Cowie bloke. I did that gig and he wasn't
very pleasant. It was the Aberdeen Uni Art College Ball. A Welsh band called Man were
on as well and they were
excellent - also Tony Visconti with some bongo player. Oh and
they spelt my name wrong too!

During February 1970 Frank Kosiba (above
at the Electric Garden) left to become a full time teacher. Jim
Ross took over the drums and the band also turned professional due to
the number of gigs they were getting. That year they toured with
Deep Purple, Chicken Shack, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Manfred Mann Chapter
lll. They also supported Cliff Bennett Band, Aardvark, Graham Bond,
David Bowie, Man, Stoics, Badfinger, Smash, Arrival, Los Caracas
(Middle of the Road), Edison Lighthouse, White Trash, Dream Police,
Consortium, Gracious, Bay City Rollers, and Tear Gas again. Some 97gigs
at least from Jan 2nd to Jul 11th that year. Pic below
shows l-r: Jim Bodie, Jim Ross and brothers Clark and Phil Robertson.

Pic above taken at a gig in Coatbridge. Phil
front, Jim Kelly at back.

Contrary to popular thought that Sleaz Band
did not record, they started an LP in London at both Sarm and Marquee
Studios in 1973. In 1974, on the 21st of June a single called 'All I
Want Is You' c/w 'Midnight Man' was released on the Fontana label.
All four band members are credited on both sides on both sides of the single -
equal shares was the philosophy. However, Phil and Clark composed the
music on the A side with Phil and Jim Kelly coming up with the
lyrics. B-side was Phil Robertson - music, Jim Bodie - lyrics.

B-side pic courtesy of Wing feet one - who was also at the Dam
Park gig.

There were156 gigs in 1972 between Jan 2nd and Oct 28th.
Once again supporting various names such as Alex Harvey (Pre Sensational),
Nazareth, Slade (the Scottish leg of their nationwide tour - Status Quo
did the English dates), Walrus, Country Joe Macdonald, Wishbone Ash, Edgar
Broughton Band, Man, and Tear Gas again. Phil Robertson left
this version of the band in late August during a bust up in Wrexham of all
places and they did the outstanding gigs with a roadie on bass until breaking
up in October.

The band on stage in Kirkaldy
- l-r: Clark, Phil, Jim Kelly with Robbie hidden.

At the end of 1972 Bill Fehilly (Mountain Management)
persuaded Phil and Clark to re-form the Band with Jim Kelly (ex- Honeybus) on
guitar and vocals and Robbie Stewart on drums. There were136 gigs in
1973 supporting Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Screaming Lord Sutch, Gypsy and
the Scottish Tour with Nazareth. They also played a few gigs with a band
they got on well with called Stiltz.

On 23rd August 1974, after a falling out Jim Kelly decided to
leave on the way to a gig leaving the other three to carry on. The manager
had lined up a replacement (who went on to better things) but the rest had had
enough and went back to civvies. The LP was shelved incomplete and
only a very poor quality tape exists somewhere.

Jim Kelly passed
away a few years ago leaving us with only the memory of how good a singer and
guitarist he had been. Clark Robertson lives in
Portobello. Robbie Stewart lives in Perth and works in Dundee. Jim Ross now lives in Spain
possibly and Jim Bodie became a Union leader in Canada where he now resides.
Frank Kosiba played around the Dundee area in a number of
pub/club/hotel/function bands eventually teaming up with George Currie
(ex-lead with Darts) for about 10 years. Then an 8 year stint with
Rockabilly/RnR band the Accelerators -3 albums on the Raucous Record
label and playing some of the biggest festival events in the UK. Two hip
replacements (payback for all those years of rock n roll drumming) interrupted
his career but he has at last thrown away the walking sticks and picked
up the drumsticks again and is now (2005) looking for a new rockabilly/RnR
outfit

Phil Robertson resides in Dundee and still
does the odd gig with Drew Larg (superb vocalist still) and Donnie Coutts
(drummer / vocals) who were in the Vikings with Alan Gorrie and recorded the
single Bad News Feeling in the sixties. With guitarist Jimmie Glen, their
total ages come to 230 years approximately, but they keep on rocking.

Some Sleaz Band Memorabilia.

Above: Advert for gig in 1972

Above: 'Hound' ad from 1973.
Note who wouldn't to be playing Wednesday nights in Fulham pubs much longer?